The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has announced a pledge of $14 million from Jorge Paulo Lemann and his family. The contribution, which will establish a Brazilian studies institute to be named for the donor, is the largest ever to the university from a non-alumnus, according to the university news bureau. The Lemann Institute “will increase opportunities for scholarly exchange, expand opportunities for students and faculty members to gain firsthand knowledge of Brazil through in-country study and research and help prepare the next generation of Brazilian leaders through graduate and professional training opportunities. Mr. Lemann, born in Brazil to Swiss immigrants and now living in Switzerland, was a founder of Banco Garanti and is a partner of GP Investimentos and has also been a prominent tennis champion in Switzerland, Brazil and internationally. Prior to this pledge, the Lemanns’ made several significant other gifts to the University, including $1.5 million for the Lemann Chair in Economics, $500,000 for the Jorge Lemann Scholars Fund, and $350,000 for the Lemann-Illinois Brazil Collaborative research program. When asked about his decision to endow this new program, Mr. Lemann explained that the gift “stems from our appreciation of the university’s contribution in attracting an increasing number of talented Brazilians and in enhancing their education.”

The Jorge Paulo Lemann Endowed Chair in Brazilian History will be the centerpiece of the institute and will be held by an internationally renowned scholar. The institute also will have a distinguished visiting Brazilian scholars program that will enable leading Brazilian intellectuals to pursue significant research and writing projects, interact with faculty members and students at the Urbana campus, and contribute to the institute’s academic program through teaching, collaborative research, conference participation and other means.

Collaborative research awards will support joint research between faculty members and graduate students at Urbana and their counterparts in Brazilian institutions. Lemann research fellowships will support research by faculty members and graduate students at Urbana on any aspect of Brazilian culture and society, such as business and economics, history, political science, language and literature, and other fields.

In the area of graduate and undergraduate education, the award will provide endowed graduate fellowships for study related to Brazil, travel and study fellowships (to enable a Brazilian graduate student to spend a year studying at the U. of I., study-abroad scholarships for undergraduate U. of I. students to study in Brazil for a semester, and undergraduate U. of I. scholarships for research on Brazil.)

The Lemann Brazil Leadership Fund will provide short-term leadership fellowships to Brazilian professionals and government officials who wish to participate in one of the U. of I.’s short-term executive-training programs, and long-term fellowships to highly qualified young professionals from Brazil to earn a master’s degree in policy economics or other appropriate graduate programs.

The gift also will provide for conferences, publications, seminars and workshops on Brazilian topics that will involve institute participants, along with scholars and public- and private-sector representatives from Brazil; a lecture series; and support for enhancing the campus’s Portuguese language program.

Planning for the institute is under way, and some programs are expected to begin this year. The institute will hire its own director.

Montclair State University has received an anonymous donation of $5 million, the largest such gift in the institution’s history. According to announcement by the University News division, the funds will be used principally to fund scholarships to women and minorities.

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